join the millions of members who've chosen an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. >> >> pelley: these presidential debates are run by a commission that operates independently of the political parties. the campaigns have no say in the choice of the moderator and at every debate anthony mason reminds us there's no telling what might happen. >> we move over here, right? >> right. >> reporter: the first televised debate aired in 1960. and politics would never be the same. >> senator john f. kennedy. >> reporter: that night the young senator john kennedy looked cool and collected. and the experienced vice president richard nixon seemed uncomfortable, even sweaty. as the debate's producer, the late don hewitt, remembered. >> i looked at him on camera and i thought, oh, my god, this is trouble. >> reporter: the first lesson: the debates would not just be about what you said but how you looked when you said it. and mistakes could have huge consequences. in 1976 at the height of the cold war, president gerald ford mysteriously declared -- >> there is no s